Eric Garner
02-10-2008, 6:08 PM
OK, pretty new to woodworking. I've had my PM2000 with a Forrest WW2 blade since last October, and up until this weekend I've been working almost exclusively with 3/4" birch plywood. I've been busy building shop furniture (solid core door workbench, TS out-feed table, lumber rack, etc...) in preparation for some "Fine Woodworking".
This weekend I decided to take a stab at one of The Wood Whisper's end grain cutting boards. I got some 5/4 rock maple and walnut. Milled it down to 1 and 1/8" inch, jointed one edge and started to rip my pieces to the needed widths. I started with the maple and got some serious burn but the cut was smooth. I was shocked at how much force it took to push the maple through compared to 3/4" plywood. I went faster on the next rip, but this time the cut wasn't smooth. I finished ripping my pieces and wasn't really happy with the results. The cuts were clean enough for glue up. So, I glued them up and decided maybe my blade needed cleaning. I cleaned the blade and prepped everything for some work today.
This morning I was ready to cross cut the glued up piece. So, I got out the cross cut sled that has never failed to cut me perfect 90's on 3/4" ply. I trimmed one edge and got a perfect cut. I cut my first 1.25" piece nice and slow and got a perfect cut. The next cut resulted in some burning, the next cut resulted in burning and some saw marks. What's going one! I tried another cut at a snails pace and the cut was clean. So, I went a little faster on the next cut and got saw marks. Saw marks happen at different spots in cut and it feels like the blade might be vibrating.
Is this a technique issue or is something up with my blade/saw? I figured my problems with ripping could be issues with me, but the cross cut sled is fool proof with the exception of how fast you cut. I checked that the miter slot is parallel with the blade and have tuned the rip fence several times since I got the saw in order to get accurate and clean rips. I have never had burning/saw mark problems with plywood an my sled has always been right on.
Thanks for the help.
This weekend I decided to take a stab at one of The Wood Whisper's end grain cutting boards. I got some 5/4 rock maple and walnut. Milled it down to 1 and 1/8" inch, jointed one edge and started to rip my pieces to the needed widths. I started with the maple and got some serious burn but the cut was smooth. I was shocked at how much force it took to push the maple through compared to 3/4" plywood. I went faster on the next rip, but this time the cut wasn't smooth. I finished ripping my pieces and wasn't really happy with the results. The cuts were clean enough for glue up. So, I glued them up and decided maybe my blade needed cleaning. I cleaned the blade and prepped everything for some work today.
This morning I was ready to cross cut the glued up piece. So, I got out the cross cut sled that has never failed to cut me perfect 90's on 3/4" ply. I trimmed one edge and got a perfect cut. I cut my first 1.25" piece nice and slow and got a perfect cut. The next cut resulted in some burning, the next cut resulted in burning and some saw marks. What's going one! I tried another cut at a snails pace and the cut was clean. So, I went a little faster on the next cut and got saw marks. Saw marks happen at different spots in cut and it feels like the blade might be vibrating.
Is this a technique issue or is something up with my blade/saw? I figured my problems with ripping could be issues with me, but the cross cut sled is fool proof with the exception of how fast you cut. I checked that the miter slot is parallel with the blade and have tuned the rip fence several times since I got the saw in order to get accurate and clean rips. I have never had burning/saw mark problems with plywood an my sled has always been right on.
Thanks for the help.